Heartbeats
by Pegelia Von Borrador
Summary: This is the story of what happens after Raven and Beast Boy spend one night together. As Raven finds herself pregnant, terrified, and determined to hide her secret, the Titans must deal together with resurrected villains and the pressures of growing up in a world moving far too fast. Raven/BB, Robin/Star
1. Morning

**Chapter One - Morning**

She knew.

She knew as soon as she woke up, sheets rubbing against her skin in a strange green room, the mattress moving with a man's breaths beside her, that what had just happened would change her life. Maybe not now, maybe not even soon, but eventually. Some day.

Raven peeled her eyes open, vision obscured by purple hair falling into her lashes, and tenderly began to move her body. Oh God. Sore. _Down there_.

Oh, my God.

She jerked forward, the sheets twisted around her torso, pinning her breasts down. A glance beside her saw a green-skinned back, thin wiry muscles moving with sleepy breaths.

She voraciously ripped the sheets off of her body, and in the thin dawn light, beneath her sour-milk thighs, there was a stain of brown blood.

_Jesus fucking Christ._

"Morning, beautiful."

Beast Boy had turned over, his bare chest coming up from under the sheets. He was scrawny, but so was she, and apparently he'd had enough strength to pound the hell out of her last night.

"Hey" was all she said. But inwardly, the word 'beautiful' rang like a bell in her ears. Her, beautiful? Stark ass naked, skin the color of oatmeal, spindly legs and an unforgiving haircut. The scars from her childhood screamed out from her back, raw and histrionic. She shuddered when he ran a soft finger down the worst of them.

"Did we actually do what I think we did last night?"

"Best night of my life," he said, with the ardor of a sixteen-year-old.

His voice, with just a hint of growl, made something rise within her. She immediately squashed it.

"Not that I don't love spooning," she said, standing up to gather her clothes, "but that was way out of my comfort zone. All of this is. And I really don't think we should do that again – "

"It was your first time, wasn't it?"

Images popped up in her mind. Rough, searing, enchanting pain, screeching up from someplace hidden inside of her.

"Yeah, pretty sure it was my first time," she growled.

He gave another smile and also stood up from the bed. Dear God, _that_ was some morning wood.

"Wait," she looked again at that smile, "that wasn't your first time?" Come to think of it, he seemed really good at hitting her spots.

He said nothing, pulling on his boxers.

"Jesus Christ," Raven gasped, "you did it with Terra, didn't you?"

"Now you're just jumping to conclusions."

A laugh bubbled up from her lips, something primal. She wasted no time in summoning her clothes to her and dressing with a sudden urgency. "Okay, now we really never need to do this again. See you at combat practice, asshole."

"Raven, I'm sorry – "

"For what? I'm fine. You're a grown man, you can fuck whoever you want. I'm gonna do my morning meditation."

With a swoop of her cloak, she fled out of the room, making sure to let the door slam shut extra hard behind her. She ripped through the tower to her room, scaring the hell out of Silkie, who was sleeping by the bathroom. When she reached her room, she stripped immediately and ran to the shower to wash off the sweat and blood –

She laughed. She doubled over by the shower and laughed.

That green-skinned little ass had forgotten to wear a condom.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! The story's almost completely written, so I should be able to post pretty quickly as we go. Thanks for reading, and please tell me what you think! - PVB**


	2. Change

**Chapter Two - Change**

"Sit, Silkie! Sit! Oh, good boy."

"Starfire, he's a goddamn worm. He's not going to sit."

"Yes, he will for his knorfka! Sit, boy!"

"Oh, my _God_." Raven stood up and walked to the kitchen to boil some more tea. Her stomach was growling incessantly, but she'd already eaten like five eggs that morning, so she figured she needed to stop eventually.

Beast Boy and Cyborg were sitting on the couch, playing video games. Beast Boy turned to her and offered a beaming smile, inviting her to sit beside him. She scowled and plopped down with her book. While her eyes scanned the pages, she kept sneaking glances above the book to watch Beast Boy. He turned back to the video game, but every so often, his dark green eyes snuck back over to her.

The blush that enflamed her cheeks was drowned out by the alarm siren.

"Plasmus!" Robin skidded into the room. "Titans, Go!"

Finally, some ass-kicking. Raven could always handle that.

Plasmus ended up being in the financial district, doing some serious damage to the sewer pipes. As they arrived on the scene and took in the mess of alien goo and sewage, Raven's stomach flipped. Was Plasmus always this _disgusting_?

"It looks like you are what you eat, Plasmus," Robin called. "But we're taking you down!"

Synchronized, Starfire and Cyborg ran forward first, starbolts and sonic blasts making the first impact in the purple flesh. Next, Robin, riding in on Beast Boy as a triceratops, bound Plasmus' arms to his sides and then was rescued by Starfire as Beast Boy knocked him to the ground. The team turned expectantly to Raven.

But she only hovered. Dear God, he was hideous. Her entire body was reacting violently to the smell of toxic goo and shit that covered the entire street. She had never been so upset over a villain before. Oh, Jesus, she felt like vomiting.

"Raven!" Robin screamed. Plasmus struggled, attempting to break free of the bonds, and Starfire had no choice but to pummel him with green starbolts. The resultant flying goo hit Raven squarely in the chest, and she fell to the ground with a thump.

The smell was right there, pushing up against her nose, and before she realized what was happening, she was done for, on her hands and knees vomiting up her guts in the street. Her body shuddered violently as she kept on puking and puking, until finally only bile came up and she had to spit it out, her mouth tasting acidic.

When she looked up, horribly humiliated, Robin was handing a sleeping Plasmus to the cops. But Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy were in front of her, various expressions of worry and shock on their faces.

"Raven, what is wrong?" Starfire said.

"Yeah, girl, you've never reacted like that to Plasmus before. Too many eggs?" Cyborg said.

But it was Beast Boy who broke her. He dropped to one knee before the massive pile of vomit in front of her and reached out to her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

She couldn't do it. She jumped up, almost slipping in the vomit, and said,

"I'm fine, I got it, thanks. I'm gonna go home and get cleaned up."

Before Beast Boy could look her in the eyes again, she sank into a black puddle on the earth.

* * *

Back in her room, unfortunately, the carnage continued. Her body refused to accept the fact that she had no food left in her and she spent the next half an hour dry heaving over her toilet, small amounts of bile getting spit up each time.

When it was finally over, she collapsed on her cloak on the floor, letting the cold tile cool down her fevered head. Jesus, where did that come from?

She rolled herself over and summoned a bottle of water from beside her bed. As she drank small gulps, willing her body to keep it down, her mind ran through what she had eaten that day. Scrambled eggs and tea? Hardly enough to reduce a teenaged superhero to a puke-stained mess.

She rested one hand on her stomach, suddenly empty, and thought that maybe there were just things that happened to reduce superheros to puke-stained messes.

Raven sat straight up.

"Oh, my God," she gasped.

She summoned a new cloak and flew to the convenience store.

* * *

$15.99. That was how much the test cost. She had never carried cash, so she fished out of various vending machines with her telekinesis before arriving. The bored cashier with a smirk on his face handed her back the box and a receipt.

"Bathroom?" She asked.

He cocked his finger around the corner of the store. She walked gingerly through the parking lot, hiding her purchase beneath her cloak, and once in the small, dirty bathroom she locked the door with her mind so tight that fucking Trigon couldn't get in.

Leotards, being awkward, meant that she had to strip to pee. As she nervously sat on that toilet wearing nothing but a bra, numb fingers fumbling with the box, the thought crossed her mind that she shouldn't be here. She shouldn't be doing this. Things like this didn't happen to girls like her.

She was so nervous that by the time that little white stick was in position, she just peed all over her fingers too. Cussing, embarrassed, cheeks aflame, Raven put the test on the top of the toilet while she wiped off her fingers with the thin toilet paper. And then she shimmied her panties and leotard back up and waited.

Her fingers fluttered, making the test shudder in her hands.

_Oh, God, Jesus, please._

Three minutes was a long fucking time for this shit.

_This is not happening to me._

This bathroom smelled awful and her stomach was already enough of a mess.

_Oh, my God, I can't – _

A symbol came up through the white screen. Raven peered down.

A pink plus sign showed up.

She blinked.

Pink plus sign? What did that mean?

She grabbed the box and scanned it frantically.

_A pink plus sign indicates a positive pregnancy test._

"Pregnancy?" She said aloud. Pregnancy wasn't something she had to be worried about. Pregnancy happened to regular people. Pregnancy meant a baby.

"Oh, _God_!" She screamed. Her legs curled up on the toilet seat in her meditation position, and she placed two hands imperatively on her stomach.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Her eyes closed, she turned inward, travelling through her body, feeling the blood pulse and the bones grow. Surrounded by warmth of her own person, she moved further down, and when she had reached her secret place, there was a great rocketing pulse.

A heartbeat. Not her heartbeat. Someone else's heartbeat.

A baby's heartbeat. _Her_ baby's heartbeat.

With a screeching gasp she woke up. And then she was sitting cross-legged on a toilet seat in Jump City, with a heartbeat pulsing deep within her and a positive pregnancy test laying on the toilet paper.

Her eyes bubbled over.

What in the hell was she going to tell Beast Boy?

* * *

By the time that she had remembered how to fly home, things had returned to normal in the Tower. Robin stood in the kitchen cooking something extravagant, as Starfire played with Silkie on the floor and tried not to show just how much she liked him in the apron. Beast Boy watched TV and Cyborg polished his extra arm.

Raven came through the door, and everyone turned.

"Hey, Raven! Worried about you today," Robin smiled.

"Good to see you upright," Cyborg chimed in.

Beast Boy leaned right over the edge of the couch and grinned.

"Looking good as ever," he said.

Those eyes.

His child!

She slapped her hand over her mouth and flew back out of the room. The vomiting commenced the second she got to her bathroom, but this time, when she was done, she curled up on the floor and allowed herself a few tears.

_Time to face the facts. You're…pregnant. Say it again._

"Pregnant," she dutifully whispered. "I'm carrying a child."

_Not just a child. _His_ child._

"I can't tell him. He's gonna freak. He'll…I mean, Jesus, he's sixteen and he knocked me up on one night. He'll leave me. He'll leave the Titans."

Her heart squeezed painfully at the thought of Beast Boy leaving.

But she didn't have to tell him. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

She sat up and peered down at her stomach beneath her leotard. Mercifully flat. How much time did she have before she couldn't keep up the act anymore? How did this work? Her mother had never told her anything about babies. Nobody had ever actually thought her capable of reproduction.

More than capable. Fertile. That night with Beast Boy had only been a month or so ago. One night had done the trick.

Her hands reached up to dig at the roots of her hair, tears forming in her eyelashes.

She had known that that one night would change everything.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Please R&R :) - PVB**


	3. Broken

**Chapter Three - Broken**

Raven had wondered how long she could keep it up. The answer was only three months.

In between eating like a whale and vomiting up her guts at various hours of the day, Raven tried to continue life as a Titan. She even went shopping with Starfire and helped Cyborg with his car. Her volatile mood swings were interpreted solely as Raven being Raven.

But Beast Boy she avoided. Something about his wide-eyed innocence, the way that he never seemed offended by her stubborn refusal to spend any time alone with him. It frustrated, infuriated her. How had he never even _considered_ using protection?

But she wasn't really mad. She was desperate. The second she got close to him, the second that his animal senses picked up what was growing within her, they were done for, and he was out. She knew how this worked. Men never stayed with the pregnant girlfriend.

Especially not ugly, half-demon girlfriends, possibly carrying another spawn of Satan.

_Great fucking idea, Raven. Sleep with the green kid. This is the last time you ever trust your instincts._

At night she examined herself in the mirror. Wearing street clothes or her loose night-dresses, her small bump was hardly noticeable. It just looked like she'd eaten a really big meal. But leotards were unforgiving.

One day, after defeating another villain, the team trooped back to the Tower, utterly exhausted. Raven was already upset that her noonday feast had been interrupted, and she was starving. As they all sat down on the couch and began to argue about what to eat, Raven sat down beside them, slouched down, and thought that a nap sounded like such a good idea.

Robin's voice died from the conversation. In between the frantic arguing of the other three, Raven opened her eyes.

Robin, sitting beside her, was staring at her stomach. Sitting on the couch, her back arched slightly, her bump rose up like a goddamned mountain. There was absolutely no way he would think she'd just eaten a big deal.

She swirled her cloak around her and vanished from the room. It was time for a new plan.

* * *

Azarath, as always, was quiet. She walked quickly through the streets, nodding to monks and nuns who greeted her. Her mother's house stood out, a tall white tower in a sea of low color. She flew up, ignoring her pounding heart, and at once her worst fears were confirmed.

Arella was waiting for her. And she already knew.

"Raven, what were you – "

"Mother, I don't know," she said. "I wasn't really thinking at all, okay? But I need somewhere to stay for a while. At least to figure out what to do."

"Until what? Until you give birth to a child you are unprepared to raise?"

Raven winced. She'd never heard her mother speak like this before, her voice devoid of any warmth or comfort.

"Mother, I'm sorry. I didn't intend for this to happen. But it has, and I just – "

"It's he, isn't it. Garfield."

Now she openly cringed. The only time she had ever called Beast Boy by his real name was that night. To hear her mother say it – to know that she knew – felt like a violation of something dark and private.

"Of course it's him," she whispered.

Arella sighed, the pigeons around her feet shuffling and clucking around. "And they have no idea."

"I don't want them to kick me out," she said.

"They would never make you leave, child. You're worried that he will leave you."

Her mother was taking a knife to her already broken heart, and Raven could hardly keep herself together. She wrapped her arms around herself, attempting to hold the falling pieces together.

"Mother, please."

Her cracked, sobbing voice finally touched Arella. The woman walked forward and placed a hand on Raven's shoulders. Without saying a word, she led her inside, leaving the pigeons to cluck stupidly at the tears splattering the ground.

* * *

"You're going to _Azarath_?"

"There's a war over there. They need me. Since my father was so powerful, I can summon energies that they can't."

"But, Raven – "

"Don't worry about it, I'll be back as often as I can. I just don't think I can really go on missions very often anymore." Her eyes went to the ground. "I'm so sorry, guys."

"It's okay, Raven, we're not mad." Robin stood up. "Just concerned. You haven't really been acting like yourself lately."

Jesus, he'd already noticed! "I'm fine, just a little distracted." She made a point to not raise her arms, keeping her cloak covering her entire body. "It's just for a while. Once the war is over, then I can come back and continue being a real Titan."

"Do what you must do, friend," Starfire said.

"Yeah, you know there's always a place for you here," Cyborg chimed in.

She smiled, and finally found the strength to meet Beast Boy's eyes.

He offered her a sad smile. "We'll miss you."

Raven fought back tears. "It's not for long, I promise."

Beast Boy opened his mouth, probably to say something adorable and loving, but before he could, she lost her nerve and backed completely out of the room.

There was only so much that a broken girl like her could handle.

* * *

**Hey guys! Sorry for the boringness of the story so far, but I promise it picks up next chapter! Please review, I appreciate every one :) Thanks for reading! Love - PVB**


	4. Daybreak

**Chapter Four - Daybreak**

Azarath remained quiet. During the days, Raven would pussyfoot around the tower, keeping her cloak falling to her feet to cover her increasingly obvious pregnancy. Most of the time, the other four were running errands or off practicing on their own.

But at night, when they all came together to watch movies or hang out or kick ass, she had to leave. Flying through the portal, she arrived at the monastery where she was raised and would participate in meditation, finally forcing herself to confront the reality of her situation. Her mother was distant, but loving, and they had spent time together for the first time in years, since Raven had left Azarath as a small child, fleeing her father.

But it was quiet. No loud rap music, no sound of T-cars being polished, no Silkie scratching at her door at night looking for a cuddle. Just Raven, her often dark thoughts, and the incessant thumping of a child inside of her that was just beginning to move.

When she came to Earth, she mainly hung out with Starfire and Cyborg. Robin was too observant. He already knew something was wrong. Raven suspected that Starfire knew as well, but the alien never questioned or pried, always happy to watch girlie movies with Raven under the full cover of blankets. And Cyborg had never cared what was wrong with Raven. And chess was the one thing that despite the vomiting, the mood swings, the terrified thoughts, she remained badass at.

She refused to look at Beast Boy. And she didn't understand why he didn't get more upset. He always offered to hang out with her, buy her pizza and go to her favorite poetry slams, and it seemed that the more she refused, the more she backed out of rooms just to get away from him, the more that he believed in her inherent goodness, that there had to be another reason. She knew secretly why he never got mad at her, but even in her most private heart, she couldn't say it.

With an aching in her soul that she couldn't explain, she missed him. His stupid jokes, his willingness to invade her personal bubble every day. The way that he had taken a demon girl with caged emotions and in one night opened her every door.

That was why she couldn't let him get close to her. She would lose him. Once the child was born – and she couldn't bring herself to think that far ahead – they'd be together. She could be herself again. But in the meantime, Raven was lonely. After everyone had gone to sleep, when she returned to her comfy, dark room and allowed her body to move, she was alone.

Never really alone, though. There were two of her now.

The alarm siren reached her in Azarath, and it was her signal that she could return home for a brief time. It happened that one day she managed to get home after a particularly long and painful meditation session, when she once again had to bear the questions of the monks who were too goddamned curious about her personal business. She scratched Silkie behind the ears and ran up to her room, where she immediately stripped of the stupid robe they made her wear over there. Her vertebrae popped one at a time as she stretched up. At six months along, the belly was finally getting uncomfortable. It went everywhere with her. She placed an absentminded hand upon her stomach and felt around. There was the head. Down by her hip today. That went she'd be able to see the kicks on the surface. Better than the baby kicking her spleen.

The communicator on her dresser beeped urgently.

"Raven? Are you home? Raven?"

She reached over and picked up. "Raven reporting."

"We need you down here," Robin said, his voice tight. "It's Cinderblock. He's not himself, something's controlling him. We're getting our asses handed to us."

"I'm sorry, I can't, I was fighting in Azarath all day. I'm actually heading back soon."

"Raven – " He was cut off with a thud and the communication stopped.

She sighed and sat down on the bed. God, she was such a terrible Titan right now. Abandoning her friends during their worst time. She didn't even know if she could use her powers, though. Every day in meditation she could feel her powers slipping down towards the baby, sucking her strength. She needed to hurry up and give birth, cause eventually she wouldn't be able to use any of her powers and –

"RAVEN!"

Starfire's voice was a scream. Raven lunged for the communicator.

"Star, what's wrong?"

"Cinderblock is…not Cinderblock!" She gasped. "We cannot win. He is too strong for the four of us. We need you."

Raven closed her eyes as her heart squeezed. "I'm so sorry, Star, I can't. I don't have the strength."

"Raven," she said, "Beast Boy is in danger."

The baby gave a powerful kick.

"Star, what – "

With a scream, her communication was severed too. Raven was left sitting on her bed, the communicator in her hand. The baby was kicking like she'd never felt before. Her entire stomach was trembling.

She looked down at the communicator. There were four small dots clustered together downtown. Three were white and healthy. One was red and in danger.

Raven narrowed her eyes.

* * *

The communicator blasted out of her hands, Starfire turned with her eyes glowing. She flew forward to punch Cinderblock in the face, but he was able to block her and move to clap her between his hands. She barely dodged, and managed to land a kick onto his chest. But as he stumbled, Starfire could only stare. When had he become so intelligent?

Cyborg came forward to blast him while he was down, rocket after rocket blasting from his shoulders. Cinderblock merely raised a hand, smart enough to keep the rockets from blinding him.

"Where did this guy get brains?" Cyborg bellowed at Starfire, but before there was an answer, Cinderblock ferociously strode forward, his massive steps rocking the city.

"Starfire!"

Robin was running forward with his hands up. She swooped down, pulled him upwards, and flew right for Cinderblock's face. With incredible agility, Robin flipped out of Starfire's hands, blasted a few freeze guns in his eyes, and then landed again in her arms as Cinderblock stumbled backward, roaring in pain.

"BEAST BOY!"

"I'm trying!" He screamed, one leg still trapped beneath falling rubble. Starfire dropped Robin off and went to help him move, but despite her alien strength and his largest animals, they could not move the pieces of apartment building that had fallen upon him.

And Cinderblock was running forward again.

"He's tryin' to crush us!" Cyborg yelled. "I can't give him anymore!"

Starfire stood and launched her most furious starbolts, but nothing fazed him. This Cinderblock was not repelled by their best efforts. The tight grip of fear grabbed Starfire's stomach. Oh, my God, was this it?

An incandescent black raven rose from the earth and engulfed Cinderblock all at once. He struggled, but in one movement, he burst from the inside out, every piece of rubble making up his body falling to the earth with rocketing thuds. As Cinderblock crumbled, a similar black wave picked up the stones on top of Beast Boy and moved it easily aside, allowing him to slide out.

Starfire went forward to help him stand and saw that he was grinning widely, his eyes searching for her. "Raven, that was awesome!"

"Yeah, girl, you really – "

The words died on Cyborg's lips.

A pregnant Raven slowly lowered herself to the ground beside them.

She'd tried to disguise it as best as she could. In a loose black top and maternity jeans, she could almost pass for overweight. But the four of them just stared. Her belly might as well have been lit up by neon lights.

For the first time in months, Starfire got a good look at Raven's face, and saw that the small changes she'd noticed finally made sense. Raven was chubbier, her cheeks and hips more filled out. Her skin was less sallow and more peachy. Her hair had gotten longer, reaching down to her shoulders. Her eyes met theirs with a strange mixture of defiance and shame.

Leave it to Robin to state the obvious.

"Raven, you're _pregnant_."

She gave a lopsided smile and said, "Cheers."

"There was no war in Azarath, was there?"

She tried to figure out what to do with her hands. At first she crossed them in front of her chest, but with her newly gigantic breasts, it didn't work. Then she placed her hands on the small of her back, which only made her belly stick out even more. Finally, frustrated, she stuck her hands on her hips and said, "No. There wasn't."

"Raven," Cyborg had finally found his voice, "who in the hell is the father?"

She bit her lip and stared at the ground.

"I am."

Beast Boy limped forward. Raven's eyes darted up to his and it was like the two of them had never seen each other before. Her eyes probed his face, body hunching slightly to make her seem smaller than she was. And he?

Starfire had never seen him glow like that before.

"It's mine, isn't it?" He said, drawing close. "Raven?"

"Of course it's yours," she muttered, her fingers trembling. "There's no one else."

"How long has it been?"

"Six months," she replied.

His mouth burst into a smile, his fang showing. "Oh, my God, Rae, we're going to have a baby!"

"You're not mad?" She started to straighten up.

"Mad? Holy shit, Raven." One hand slowly, hesitantly, went to rest on the top of her stomach. "I've never been more grateful in my life."

She smiled. A true, beaming smile. Standing in the middle of downtown, with rubble surrounding her, Beast Boy's hand now resting comfortably on her body, Starfire had never before seen Raven so happy.

* * *

The whole world had shifted for Raven. His eyes had given her an invitation to feel. As they all walked back to the Tower, the atmosphere around them different and strange as nobody knew what to do with Raven or her new belly, the awkwardness didn't even phase her. Just the thought that his hands, so close to hers, sparks fizzing between them, had touched her, was enough. Enough to release her.

That night, her feelings blossomed. Cyborg, convinced that waffles were nutrition enough for a pregnant girl, cooked up a massive breakfast feast, and Raven dove in with gusto. Starfire conquered her fear of the internet to begin looking at colors for the baby's room, with Beast Boy playfully chiming in that there had to be some green in there somewhere. As the day faded, Robin finally came out of his room from researching Cinderblock's sudden abilities to join them on the couch, watching some pregnant girl comedy unearthed from the DVD cabinet. The five of them laughed, Raven most of all, suddenly seeing all of her struggles over the past six months in a hilarious light. And through it all, Beast Boy's hand stayed rested on her shoulder, never pulling away.

The Tower quieted. Stars circled into the sky. Robin and Cyborg yawned and went to bed. Starfire was curious, but finally Robin grabbed her hand and gently led her upstairs. And when the Tower had finally slipped into blackness, the moonlight through the windows fell upon a gigantic green ape, carrying in his arms a beautiful sleepy girl, the two of them descending into a room with a door painted green.

* * *

She knew.

She knew as soon as she woke up, wrapped in the arms of the man who's child she was carrying, with tender dawn light falling through the windows, that this was what happiness felt like. Bubbling at her lips, making her toes curl, her fingers clutched tight to his.

_No, Raven. This is love._

Oh, God, what?

She grabbed even harder at his hands and curled into him further. His body shifted to accommodate hers and their breaths evened out. She couldn't ruin this by loving him.

The baby kicked. _Shut the fuck up._

"Hey."

The voice came soft at her ear.

She craned her neck and said, "Good morning, handsome."

"Well, that's something new." Beast Boy leaned over to kiss her.

"It's just the hormones. Don't get used to it."

"I don't get used to anything. You always keep me on my toes."

For some reason that made her burst out in a smile. He mirrored it, placing a hand on hers. "Raven, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Everything. Not wearing a condom. Not realizing what you were going through. Not being there…I just…really feel terrible that you've had to do this on your own."

His apology made her heart burn. "No, Jesus, it's not your fault. I didn't tell you."

"Why not?" He realized why not, and his eyes widened. "You thought I would leave you. Leave the Titans."

The second it was out of his mouth it sounded stupid to her own ears, but she couldn't stop herself. "I'm not stupid, B. I've seen when this happens to girls. It's a death sentence for me. I'm not the kind of girl you'd want to spend the rest of your life with." She spat out the words. "I didn't…I mean…I couldn't – the Titans couldn't do it without you."

_Stupid stupid stupid! You can't even tell him how much you need him!_

He silenced the voices inside her head by squeezing her hand. "Well, you don't need to worry about that. I'd never leave."

She meant to say it in her head, but it came out of her mouth. "Why not?"

"Because I love you," Beast Boy said with a smile.

The entire universe came crashing down outside the room, and Raven's stomach did a somersault.

_Oh, Jesus Christ – _

She slapped her hand over her mouth and scrambled out of bed, where she promptly waddled to the bathroom and vomited up two months' worth of food.

Beast Boy ran over and held back her hair, but she could feel his worry as her body was racked by purge after purge. When the massacre was over, she leaned back, wearing nothing but a bra, and Beast Boy jumped in –

"Oh, my God, are you going into labor? Do we have to call the hospital? Oh, my God, I need a camera – "

"Babies aren't born after six months, dipshit." She wiped her mouth on his green towels. "It's morning sickness. Perfectly normal."

"Wait, how often do you do that?"

"Every morning for the past half a year," she grunted.

He pulled her fevered body close. "Oh, my God, Raven, I am so fucking sorry."

His arms felt so good, so right, wrapping around her. She closed her eyes against his skin as her stomach settled down.

"How's the baby?" He whispered.

"All good. Wanna feel?"

She pulled one of his hands down to her stomach and let it rest around her belly button. It was only a moment before the baby kicked and Beast Boy jumped.

"Oh, my God, it's moving!"

"Babies do that," she laughed. "This one especially. I'm worried it's morphing in there and I'm gonna give birth to a goat or something."

"Maybe you shouldn't have fucked me."

"Too late."

He continued to move his hand all around her belly. "I can't wait to tell the other Titans!"

"What other Titans?"

"Oh, I guess we didn't tell you. Tomorrow the Titans East and everyone else who's in Jump City are gonna come over for dinner!"

Raven froze. The entire Titans team, coming over?

"I think I'm gonna be sick again."

* * *

**Thanks for reading, guys! I'm so grateful to have such a fantastic fanbase. Hope you enjoyed the longer chapter, and more should be coming up soon!**


	5. Bad Luck

**Chapter Five – Bad Luck**

One thing that Raven had forgot to count on – teenagers were absurdly, unconquerably, uncomfortably awkward, and as such, they avoided awkward situations like the plague.

This probably accounted for the fact that at first, none of the Titans even mentioned the fact that Raven, the most mysterious and least cuddly of the whole group, was suddenly and dramatically pregnant. Bumblebee knew what had happened immediately and gave Beast Boy an inquisitive stare, and most of the boys were just surprised. Mas and Menos muttered something in Spanish, but as they all settled in to watch some TV and compare villain stories, Raven figured she was basically off the hook.

Then Jinx and Kid Flash arrived.

Starfire stood up to greet them, and she bubbled her way back over to the couch. As Kid Flash said hi to everyone there, Jinx took one look at the room and finally decided to mention the elephant.

"Jesus, Raven, you're as big as a barn. Who knocked you up?"

Raven leveled a glare and managed to get to her feet, which was perhaps a bad idea. Jinx's eyes bugged as she got an up-close view.

"Uh, that'd be me, actually."

Beast Boy raised his hand like a kid in school being called on by the teacher.

"You two had _sex_?" Speedy muttered.

"Clearly," Jinx drawled. "Well, I gotta say, kid, you did a decent job. The hell are you carrying in there, twin rhinoceroses or something?"

"Six months pregnant and I'm still skinnier than your fatass," Raven shot back.

"Oh yeah? Well for all of your weird voodoo knowledge, at least I'm smart enough to put on a goddamn cond-"

Kid Flash slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Who feels like pizza?"

Robin, with all of the tired expertise of a leader of the most disastrous team of superheroes in history, agreed that that was a great idea, and the group was off to the pizza place in five minutes flat. Raven took the T-car because she couldn't fly, and Beast Boy and Starfire both loudly protested being separated from her, so with much bemused looks from the Titans East, they all finally made it to get pizza.

"Hi, yeah, we'll take one large meat lovers, one large veggie lovers, one with anchovies, one with pineapple and spinach, and one with…what did you want again, Star?"

"Mustard and pickles." She smiled.

"What she said," Robin finished.

The clerk roved the team with raised eyebrows and finally said, "It'll be about fifteen minutes."

Raven's mouth was watering at the thought of pineapple and spinach pizza. They plopped down on a bench outside and she shifted her weight, trying to get comfortable. The baby was on her stomach today, and it fucking sucked.

"So, Raven," Bee leaned forward, "now that the cat's out of the bag, what's the skinny?"

"Uh, what?"

"Clearly not her," Jinx mumbled again.

With a flash of Raven's eyes, Jinx's Coke exploded out of her cup and completely soaked her.

"Hey!" She screamed.

"What's your deal?" Raven said. "Why do you care if I'm pregnant or not? It's none of your goddamned business."

"It's stupid, is what it is." She wiped Coke off her as Kid Flash sat by with a grimace.

"You're stupid if you think we're gonna take this." Beast Boy had finally stood up to face Jinx, even though she had at least three inches on him.

"Robin, how are you okay with this?" She rounded on him. "I can't believe you're still letting her on the team."

Raven's cheeks flared up for the first time. All of her inner voices had suddenly manifested.

"What kind of question is that?" Robin was unfazed. "We can't wait for Raven and Beast Boy's child to be born. They're our friends, and the child will be welcomed as a Titan with open arms. Just like you were."

"I don't see how we should be applauding this kind of irresponsible behavior from heroes who are supposed to save the world," she said.

Raven felt tears welling up and her cheeks burning red, and she pushed back her chair and stood up. "Goddamn it, Jinx, you think this is fucking easy? You think anyone's applauding me? My powers are gone, my family is rejecting me, my world is completely upside down and you have the _balls_ to sit here and tell me – "

Suddenly her voice was drowned by Beast Boy, who in one motion ran in front of her and pulled her close. At first she resisted, but finally she let her face press against his chest and took comfort in the steady thumping of his heart, the push and pull of air from his lungs. She peeked over his shoulder with watery eyes and saw Kid Flash holding Jinx's hand and pulling her away. He turned back, saw her looking, and mouthed 'sorry' before zooming off.

And then it was quiet.

Eventually Starfire placed a hand on Raven's shoulder and sat her back down at the table, where everyone's polite and affectionate glances were almost too much.

"Does anyone else have any questions?" Raven burst out.

After a pause, Bumblebee asked, "Any baby names picked out?"

"Garfield and Gabriella, after their Daddy." Beast Boy winked.

"You trippin?" Cyborg said. "Something respectable, like Tyrone."

"That's a stupid ass name," Bee said.

"Pero, como sientes de un nombre como…Alejandra?" Mas said.

"I can't tell what's the name and what's Spanish," Aqualad grunted.

"We must name the child after Noodles, the delicious Earth food!" Starfire punched the air in excitement.

Raven finally managed to giggle in between all the chatter. Somewhere during the conversation, Beast Boy's hand managed to find hers, and beneath the table the two of them squeezed tight as the rest of the Titans team debated and laughed long after the pizzas had been finished.

* * *

**Sorry for the late update, ya'll! Just got off the bus in DC. Thanks for all the love! 3 PVB**


	6. Nightfall

**Chapter Six - Nightfall**

The early morning light filtered through whimsical lime-green curtains. Raven stood at the front of the room in her night-dress and couldn't help but smile. The baby's room was almost complete.

Only two months left in her pregnancy, and for the first time she almost felt prepared to have a child. The baby's room was Starfire and Beast Boy's creation. A combination of lime-green and deep violet colors, it perfectly straddled the line between over-the-top confectionary and mutedly morose. Cyborg had not only built the crib and the changing table, but he was currently working on a state-of-the-art car seat and baby stroller. Robin, when he wasn't being Robin and researching Cinderblock, was stocking up on baby foods, diapers, formula, sippy cups, baby gates. The Titans were preparing for the child the way some people prepared for the apocalypse. And Raven couldn't be more grateful.

The baby's room was right next to hers, and though she loved having Beast Boy sleep with her now, sometimes she needed her alone time. So she would sneak into the baby's room, enjoy the serenity of the adorable walls and pile of stuffed animals in the corner, and meditate in the big purple chair in the corner. She didn't have the power to levitate anymore, and it frustrated her, but now that the baby was enormous and distracting her at every turn, she figured it was probably for the best that she didn't go on missions anymore.

"Hello, friend."

Raven turned to see Starfire standing beside her in the door.

"Morning."

"How do you feel?"

"Just finished my morning vomiting, so much better now."

Starfire smiled and looked down at Raven's stomach. At the beginning of her eighth month, Raven was completely transformed. Her body was filled out, her cheeks glowing. Her stomach stuck out like she'd swallowed a beach ball.

Raven gave a crooked smile. "I look really weird, huh?"

Starfire couldn't even lie. "It looks like there are a million tiny glorfaks inside of you."

"No, but apparently Beast Boy has some magical animal sperm or something. Shit," she gasped, putting a hand on her stomach, "I think the little fucker is morphing again."

"What did you call my child?" Beast Boy came into the room, yawning, and leaned forward for a kiss.

"Just puked."

He pulled back like Raven was on fire and looked at her bump. "Is it really morphing?"

"No idea. Can't really make physic connection. Do people like you normally give birth to shape-shifters?"

"Raven, I'm the product of nuclear animal blood. There are no people like me. Whatever our kid is," he winked, "it's a one-of-a-kind."

"It's a beautiful day to have a baby!" Cyborg joined the party and ruffled Raven's hair.

"How many times do I have to tell you boys, babies aren't born until at least nine months!" Once again, she couldn't stop smiling.

"You're gonna name it after me, right? Cyborg Garfield Logan."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

"What about if the child is a girl? You will name it after me, yes?" Starfire said.

"We could always mix it up and call the kid Firestar," Beast Boy suggested.

"Too bad Logan's a stupid last name."

"Raven!" He yelped.

Suddenly Robin's voice resonated from downstairs. "Titans! Overload is attacking! Let's go!"

Cyborg whooped. "Wake up in the morning kicking some bad guy ass!"

"After we return, we shall bring you pizza!" Starfire called to Raven as they zoomed away.

Beast Boy squeezed her hand and smiled. "Sorry, Rae."

She managed a smile. "It's all good. Go save the city. I'll be here."

Beast Boy hugged her tight and then ran off down the hall. Raven stood in the middle of the room, the sunshine burning bright in her eyes.

_Soon. Soon this'll be done and you can fight too. This is what you get for having unprotected sex._

She made an exasperated sound in her throat, trying to drown out the voices, and went to her room to shower. Silkie followed, making adorable gurglings. She stripped and tenderly eased herself into the shower, careful not to slip, gripping tight to the handrails that Cyborg had installed. Her mind burned with frustration at her state of weakness, this obnoxious stomach that she could never get rid of, made it impossible to do anything other than be reminded of how fucking pregnant she was, the fact that her powers had been reduced to that of a child, she, Raven, the daughter of Trigon, had somehow managed to get _knocked up – _

From downstairs, there was the sound of the entrance alarm being deactivated.

_That was quick._

She turned off the shower, dried off, dressed in her nightgown and went downstairs to investigate.

* * *

The Titans were not prepared to deal with intelligent villains. Beast Boy was, perhaps, after years of fighting the Brain, but the others had been used to battles based on brute strength, not on mental ability. Unfortunately for them, Overload, like Cinderblock before him, apparently now possessed mental ability.

The sparky fucker had taken over the power plant and was wreaking havoc on the control grid. But Robin was done with this shit. He and Cyborg had long figured out Overload's weakness, and with the help of the building's plumbing, Overload was being reduced to a fizzing mess of energy.

Beast Boy, done with ripping out the plumbing wires, stood by with Starfire, at once itching to help Robin and Cyborg and to go home with Raven. What was she up to? Was she bored?

"How can you be so calm?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "It is important to know when one is needed."

At the moment, Robin and Cyborg were in a testosterone war, soaking themselves as well as Overload as they waved plumbing pipes around like pool noodles.

_I don't have time for this shit. I got a pregnant girlfriend at home._

"It is also important to know _where_ one is needed."

He looked up to see Starfire with one hand on his shoulder, her green eyes shining.

"What?"

"Raven needs you at home. Go," she smiled.

She was right. It was where he was meant to be. "Thanks, Star."

She kept beaming at him. Beast Boy had the scary thought that Star was probably way more prepared to have a child than poor Raven would ever be. He needed to get his ass home right now.

He morphed into a hawk and flew home, the wind pushing up against his wings, giving him strength.

Upon arrival at the Tower, the front door alarm system was already deactivated. Weird. Raven normally didn't go out to get the mail.

"Rae!" He called out, his voice echoing on the chamber room. "I'm home!"

No answer. No one was in the living room, either. She must have been in her room.

The first trouble sign was Silkie. As he climbed the stairs to her room, he heard a strange panicked gurgling. Silkie scratched desperately on Raven's door, making a sound that Beast Boy could only describe as crying.

"Silkie, what's wrong? Where's Mama Raven?"

Silkie only cried louder. Beast Boy, his heart pounding up into his throat, ripped the door open.

"Raven!"

She wasn't there. Her cloak lay discarded on the floor, along with a towel. Her communicator was laying on the dresser, the only pop of color in the room.

His heart stopped. Raven would _never_ leave the Tower without her communicator. Especially not now.

He pulled out his communicator from his belt, and making no effort to hide the panic in his voice, yelled into it,

"Titans! Get home _now_! Something's happened to Raven!"

* * *

Darkness pressed down upon her eyes, her nose, her lips. Raven's lungs struggled to find air, drowning in her disorientation. What had they done to her? What was happening?

Her hands stayed planted on her stomach, drawing her strength from the baby's frequent movements, knowing that whatever had happened, nothing had been done to her child.

Eventually she found herself in some sort of containment chamber, lying on a ragged cot. She blinked and struggled through her fogginess, somehow forgetting that she was pregnant and not realizing why her body was so sluggish and misshapen. Her mind pushed through, remembering that she was Raven, she was a superheroine, and she was carrying the child of a man that she desperately loved. And that was where she needed to be.

She rose unsteadily to her feet, walked forward to the edge of her prison, and was zapped back with a yell of pain and a burning in her body. She refocused and looked. The bars holding her were glowing. Some kind of electrical current.

No problem. She took a deep breath, focused what little energies were left in her, and with a quick incantation, held out a black glowing hand to push aside the beams.

Once again, a burning, tingling pain raced through her fingers, and she was forced to step back. The bars were enchanted. Stronger magic than hers held her inside this place, which now seemed like some kind of cage. This was designed to hold in a sorceress. Designed specifically for _her_.

Who the hell had built this? She felt herself starting to panic. What the fuck was she doing there? All she could hear was the creak of machinery.

A single floodlight came on, and she turned away as her eyes burned. She pulled herself together and locked an angry gaze at a figure advancing through the darkness.

"My, my, dear Raven. Apparently a lot has happened to you since we last met."

The figure finally emerged into the floodlight, and Raven could barely stifle her primal scream.

"Good thing we'll have quite a long time together to…catch up."

One eye gleamed at her from a face of orange and black machinery.

* * *

**Aaaahhh, not him! Trust me, I'm not happy about the plot twist either. Anyway, thanks for reading, everyone! More updates soon! - PVB**


	7. Burning

**Chapter Seven – Burning**

_Not him. Please, God, anyone but him._

Slade walked closer, his boots echoing on the metallic floor, and Raven had to will herself to stand strong and face him instead of cover under the bed like she wished to.

"You sick fuck," she spat. "What are you planning to do with me?"

"At the moment, nothing," he replied. God, his slick voice dripped into her ears like molasses. Her heartbeat raced just hearing it. "Things haven't exactly gone as planned for me. But, it seems like neither have they for you."

He gave a pointed look at her stomach, and Raven took a step back.

"Answer me."

"Dear child, you're a smart girl. You can figure it out. Ever since our last meeting with your father, I've been biding my time, rebuilding strength. Planning revenge, I suppose, though that sounds so cliché, doesn't it? I simply would very much like to see you dead."

"I'd love to see you dead. Seems we have something in common."

"Funny. I've been waiting to see your weaknesses, watch you all trip up."

"You and every villain in Jump City," she said. "We've taken down Plasmus, Cinderblock, Overload – "

"You don't understand, Raven. There _are_ no more villains in Jump City. _I_ sent Plasmus, Cinderblock and Overload. The first two were to test your strengths, see if you all had gotten weak in my absence. Overload was a calculated move. I was planning to get you all out of the Tower so I could do some reconnaissance. Plan a more…expansive attack based on your technological weaknesses. And what do my men find," he turned to look at her, "but Raven, in a very…compromised position."

She had never been more afraid in her entire life. It paralyzed her. She couldn't breathe. Her lungs had stopped responding.

"Now, let's be honest with each other. Who did this to you?"

"None of your goddamned business," she managed to blurt out.

"I just made it my business."

Two masked thugs, who were apparently not affected by the magical bars, came in from behind and pushed Raven into the bars. She screamed and writhed and pushed them back, but she could feel the heat radiating an inch from her body. Slade walked closer, another thug holding a small box of machinery and a terrifying looking probe.

"Why don't we take a look, Raven? Together. You and me." His hands reached for her nightdress.

"Oh, God, no! Stop it!" She screamed, kicking with all of her strength.

The thugs pushed her closer to the bars, and the heat seared her face.

"Be quiet, dearest, and it'll be over soon."

His fingers touched the fabric and began to pull it up over her bump.

And then Raven's own safety simply flew out of the window.

"Please, please, don't hurt the baby," she gasped. "Do whatever you want to me, but don't hurt the baby."

"No, no, dear. That wouldn't do anybody any good, now would it?"

He laid the fabric to rest on top of her expansive stomach, exposing her navy cotton panties. Her face burned with shame. As his fingers travelled slowly down her stomach, she felt the baby kick and almost vomited.

"Get this the fuck over with."

His eye met hers and he motioned for the thug with the machine to come forward. As Raven looked intently at the probe, she realized it had a blunt edge. Dear God, where the hell could he possibly be sticking that? The answer manifested itself in her mind, and once again she froze in fear.

"Calm down, child. It's a DNA sensor. We wouldn't want to have all of the fun on the first day, now would we?"

_Oh, my God, please don't let this be happening to me._

He laid the probe on her stomach, moving it around with the contours of the baby, finally resting it on the hard spot near her panties where the head was resting today. The probe beeped quietly red for a few seconds before changing to green. Slade pulled it away and turned around to the supercomputer screen resting before them. Raven's nightdress fell down, covering her again, and she heaved a sigh of relief.

After a few moments, the DNA results appeared on the screen, and Raven experienced a moment of pure resentment and shame as at least fifteen strangers learned all at once what she had done.

"Well, well. Animal DNA. I suppose dear Beast Boy eventually got over my old apprentice."

"Shut the _fuck_ up about Terra!" She roared.

"Terra should be the last of your worries, child. Do you have any idea the consequences of your actions? The _thing_ you will give birth to in only a few weeks?"

"Don't you _dare_ talk about my child like a thing!" She was finding her strength again. "I will destroy you, Slade, you know I can."

"Not right now you can't. You think I haven't noticed how weak your powers are right now? If you had the strength, this cage would be nothing for you. But it appears," he turned back to her, "that the child is sucking away more than just your physique."

"Just you wait," she said, as close to the bars as she could. "The Titans will come. And you will experience pain the likes of which have never been felt in this galaxy. I will set your blood on fire and watch you burn."

"Not very polite talk for a mother-to-be, don't you think? No, Raven, that will not happen." He pulled up a chair and sat beside her. "We are _under_ the city, child. A mile under downtown. You have no communicator, you cannot reach out telepathically, and the Titans have no idea that I am still alive or where we are. They _will_ never find you."

His words sunk in. _Never?_

"But instead, I will tell you what is going to happen." Once again, his molasses voice made her throat close up and her lungs shallow. "You will stay with me. I will keep you alive. And, in eight weeks, when you give birth, I will have my new apprentice."

Her child.

His apprentice.

Raven's stomach dropped.

_Please, God, just kill me._

* * *

Death would be worse than what he was going through.

A deep, cold pit had developed in Beast Boy's stomach. His every thought, every action was consumed by fear and desperation. Raven was missing, and so their child was missing. There was nothing else to live for.

The Titans did nothing else. The city was combed. Villains were dragged out of jail and interrogated. Phone lines were tapped. Robin, for some reason blaming himself for her disappearance, sank to levels that the Titans had never even fathomed before. Cyborg created a scanner that monitored the activities of every citizen in Jump City, and Robin forced the police to spend their rest breaks sifting through hours of sound and video footage to try and uncover something. Starfire scanned the skies, Beast Boy the alleys, sewers, trash dumps.

Nothing. Days passed. A week. Two weeks. The Tower became a tension-filled prison cell. Starfire was prone to burst out crying hysterically. She barely talked and her relationship with Robin became strained. Neither spent much time in each other's rooms anymore. Cyborg became an ass. Bitter, violent, lashing out at everyone, he spent time on the video monitors himself, violating every privacy law that had ever been enacted. Robin left the Tower more and more frequently, taking off on his motorcycle to look for Raven himself. They all frequently forgot to eat.

Beast Boy couldn't sleep anymore. He lay awake at night, staring at the ceiling and feeling his soul sink. Sometimes he would go to sleep in Raven's room in the hope that the smell of her sheets would help, but her communicator and maternity clothes on the dresser haunted him. He couldn't bear to go into the baby's room.

When he did sleep, he dreamt of fear and pain and fire. The woman he loved dying slowly somewhere, and he woke up in sweat, trying to run to save her.

But there was nowhere to run to. His uselessness made him scream.

The sun taunted him every morning, the moon burned his eyes at night. He hadn't even kissed her the last morning she was here – he was too afraid of the smell of vomit. Jesus Christ, his stomach churned with anger at that thought. How had he been so _selfish_?

He had to find Raven. He had to. There was no other option.

Without her, there was nothing else to live for.

* * *

**Sorry the chapters are so sad right now - I promise there will be a happy ending! Please review, I appreciate them all. Thank you! - PVB**


	8. Rising Star

**Chapter Eight – Rising Star**

Somewhere above her, stars cycled throughout the sky, forming animals and people and prophecies with their bodies. She could not see the stars, but she imagined them, and when she tried to sleep at night, on the backs of her eyelids, the stars glowed and sang of a better future. She yearned for them with all her soul. Sometimes they were all she had.

"Good evening, Raven."

She looked up at the ceiling and imagined the stars.

"Won't you talk to me today?"

"Maybe I'd talk if you'd feed me."

"Was the food I sent not up to your high culinary standards?" His voice had bite to it now.

"Jesus, Slade, I'm almost nine months pregnant. You can't give me a bowl of soup, some green beans and a can of peaches a few times a day and expect me to stay healthy."

"Well, then, dearest princess, what _do_ you want?"

"Prenatal vitamins, for a start. Spinach, for pregnancy anemia. Fruit. Red meat. And tea."

He said nothing. She allowed her eyes to shift over to his. He was staring at her, looking terribly confused.

She finally turned her head to look at him without sitting up. "And how exactly do you expect to raise a child when you don't even know how it lives inside the womb?" She mocked.

"The same way your father raised you."

Memories flashed. Skin hitting skin. Blood falling to the carpet. _Being roasted alive_.

"I'm going to kill you."

He chuckled and pulled up a chair beside the cage. She turned her head back up to the ceiling and reached a hand down to her stomach. The baby was still kicking.

_Think of the stars, little one. We'll make it through, I promise._

"How is my apprentice doing today?"

She refused to answer.

"Denying the inevitable is a pointless waste of emotions, Raven. You of all people should know that."

_Think of the stars._

"Especially since I will dispose of you immediately after you give birth. You had best prepare yourself for the inevitable."

The first time he threatened her with this, it had been terrifying. Now, after almost a month of daily mental torture, this was nothing. Raven tuned him out and began her mantra, preparing herself for her escape attempt.

_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos._

After a moment, Slade spoke again. But this time, his tone was different.

"What exactly did you think would happen, child?"

She paused in her meditation.

"When you found out you were pregnant, what happy scenario did you envision? Or were you smart enough to realize from the start that you were done for?"

_Just meditate, Raven. Ignore him. Azarath, Metrion – _

"Did you really think he would love you enough to stay with you? After how much he loved Terra?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT TERRA!" She sat straight up, hair flying, and a weak bolt of black electricity made the blanket fly up.

If Slade could smile, he would be right now. "Come now, Raven, you weren't serious, were you? After what they shared? After what they went through? After she was ripped from his grasp and he was forced to move on, to _you_, daughter of a demon who wasn't even smart enough to use protection?"

"How would you know what they went through?" She had to defend herself somehow. It felt as though he was touching her every sensitive wound.

"You're forgetting, dear child, that I _was_ Terra." His voice turned sick and twisted. "I experienced everything she experienced. Her love for him, his love in return. The beautiful and innocent night that they spent together before she was destroyed. By the time he got to you, he was going through the motions. Terra had deflowered him months ago."

_No, no, no!_

Her worst fears confirmed, tears rose to her eyes. "That's a goddamned lie! I don't care if he'd already done it, but he _loved_ me! And that night was incredible!"

"And you think he still loves you now that he's about to become a teenaged father? This is your fault, Raven, for not taking care of this when you first found out. Before you became a liability to the Titans."

"You mean…? Oh, my God," she couldn't stop herself from placing both hands protectively on her stomach, "you mean _abortion_? I would never do that to my baby!"

"He would never have had to know. This all could have been over before it even began. But you, stupid little girl," he leaned forward, "somewhere deep down believed that this could have a happy ending. And now here you are. Tell me how wrong you were, Raven."

"What?"

"I want you to hear you say it." His voice was hungry, desperate. "I want to hear it from your lips. Tell me you regret it. Tell me if you could take this all back, you would."

She stayed silent, sitting up in bed.

An insane laugh burst from him. "You stupid girl! You've lost! I have you trapped, and your child will be mine! There is nothing left for you! YOU – ARE – NOTHING!"

The last word echoed off the machinery, reaching her a hundred times again – nothing, nothing, nothing. Raven sat, one hand above her stomach and one below, trying to keep herself together. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

_Nothing, nothing, nothing._

Nothing.

In here, there was nothing.

But somewhere, far away, there were stars.

"If I die tonight," she said, her quiet voice filled with strength, "I will regret nothing. I will always love him. And if you kill me, I will rise like a star."

* * *

**Okay, I promise this is the last sad chapter! Also, now that I'm back in school, the updates are gonna come more randomly, like tonight. But don't worry, happy endings are coming! Thanks for everything guys :) Much love - PVB**


	9. Midnight

**Chapter Nine – Midnight**

The incessant creaking of machinery ground on her ears, making sure that if hunger and discomfort didn't keep her awake, then the noise would. Raven wasn't even trying to sleep anymore. She laid on her side, hunger ripping her stomach open. Slade hadn't fed her that night because she refused to answer him. She didn't regret it, but next time she would answer him. Her child needed all the food it could get.

Only two weeks from the due date, and it was now increasingly obvious that the child was simply enormous. Stretch marks covered her once smooth skin. The child needed more nutrition than Slade's meager meals could provide, and was sucking away at Raven's body itself. She could feel herself growing gaunt, the fat that she had accumulated from Cyborg's meals falling away. She didn't mind if it kept her child alive. But she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold on.

And then suddenly it rocked her – uterine lighting. She gasped and doubled on her side, biting her lip to keep from crying out. The entire lower half of her body was in pain. Oh, God, what the _fuck_?

She realized with a jolt. This was a contraction.

_Shit, shit, shit!_

She reached around her stomach frantically. The baby's head was on her belly button. Definitely not ready for birth. At that moment, the contraction stopped, her stomach loosening up.

Oh, thank God. Braxton Hicks contraction. Not real labor.

But she knew what this meant. Her body was preparing. The time would be soon.

It was time to attempt her escape plan.

She sat up in bed, positioning herself with her feet tucked under. There was no one around, and even if there were, she meditated every night. Nothing would look suspicious.

She closed her eyes and focused her energies. Deep inside of her was a reserve of energy that she had been storing for a month and a half. Long ago, she had stopped trying to move the bars and had instead decided to focus on sending out a telepathic message. She knew she had one shot. It was going to be hard enough to get a message out in her state. But she had to. Time was running out.

With a jittering sigh, she began the mantra in her mind.

_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos._

She knew she should have contacted Robin. But there was really only one person she wanted to talk to.

Her thoughts effortlessly morphed into a huge black raven. With a push that demanded physical and mental strength, the raven flew out of the room and across town. For a brief glorious moment, she thought she felt wind in her air as she soared. The raven flew to the Tower and into the top floor, where Beast Boy was in the throes of a dream. She slipped into his dream world.

It was a nightmare. Beast Boy ran furiously, sweating from every pore, screaming, "Raven! Where are you?"

"Please, Daddy!"

With a jolt, Raven saw who spoke. A child with green eyes and purple hair looked at Beast Boy with pleading eyes.

"I'm so sorry!" he cried. "I'm so sorry!"

_Beast Boy!_

He turned around to see the raven and his mouth dropped open. "Raven?"

_I'm alive, BB. Me and the child._

"Thank God! Rae, I'm so sorry. I should never have let this happen to you." God, those eyes made her thoughts stumble. Her heart ached painfully. "I love you, Raven."

It was just what she needed to hear. Suddenly she found strength deep within her. _I love you too. I really do. Now listen, I don't have a whole lot of time._

"Where are you?"

_I think I'm under the East side. There's machinery everywhere, and the men come back with mud on their shoes and complain of smog. I'm at least a mile underground, in an enchanted containment unit. Slade's been keeping me here._

"That goddamned, motherfucking son of a bitch!"

She had never heard him so angry. His entire body shook.

_Please, honey. _It flowed so naturally. She had never called anyone 'honey' before in her life. But here he was, and she couldn't stop herself. She wanted to be with him so bad it hurt.

_Please, honey. I don't have a lot of time. Slade wants to keep the child as his new apprentice. And I'm going to go into labor soon._

"I won't let him. I swear to you, Raven, we'll get you out."

_I love you. I don't want to go._

"This is the best dream I've ever had."

She knew he meant it.

_I know I can count on you. I'll see you soon._

His eyes watered.

The raven flew out of his dream and back through the city to hit her with a gasp. Her energy spent, she could do nothing but fall back on her cot and immediately sink asleep.

It only felt like a moment's rest before Slade's unusually loud voice punctured her dreams – "Don't you have something to tell me, Raven?"

Her eyes popped open and she struggled out of sleep. Slade stood by the edge of her cage, a new gleam in his eye.

"What?"

"Come on, darling, what happened last night?"

_Oh, God, he can't know that I managed to get through to Beast Boy!_

"I was sleeping last night, nothing happened. You really are going crazy."

"Shut up!" He grabbed the bars, and her heart jumped in fear. "You had a contraction last night. You think I don't know, dumb bitch?"

_Thank God, he doesn't know I made contact. _

But he did know she'd had a contraction, which was equally weird. "How did you – ?"

"This entire cage is rigged with sensors. I had this built for you in the unlikely event that I would ever capture you, had you been at your full powers. There's one for every Titan. And I wanted to monitor you especially, so there are sensors even throughout the cot."

Goddamn it.

"So, little girl," he came close, "when will my apprentice be born? Tonight? Tomorrow?"

"You are so fucking stupid," she barked as she sat up. "It was a false contraction. I'm not going into labor. And there's no way you're ever getting my child."

With a feral yell, he reached into the cage and pulled her up to the bars by the front of her nightdress. The heat from the bars radiated onto her face and she immediately feared for the baby.

"Fucking slut," he murmured. "I'm going to love killing you."

"Same here." Raven managed a grin. "I think first I'll cut off your balls."

"Oh, that's funny. Maybe I'll keep you alive for long enough for your child to grow to love you. Then I'll burn you alive and make him watch."

"You're not gonna get the chance to do that."

He laughed. "Of course, with your incredible powers. Tell me, dearest, how exactly will you stop me?"

"I'll kill my child before you can get to him."

He froze. "What?"

"You heard me."

Raven wanted to sob. She had never felt more like a demon in her life. But if the Titans couldn't get to her in time, she had no other choice. She would face anything – tortuous death by Slade, a lifetime in this cage – rather than the knowledge that her and Beast Boy's only child would become Slade's apprentice.

So she looked him straight in the eye, her face dead set, and said, "So enjoy this power while you've got it, asshole. Cause you will _never_ get to my child while I'm alive."

"You witch."

"Like I haven't heard that before."

Slade breathed deeply, his eye roving over her. Raven gathered all of her strength to stand and face him.

And then with a sudden surge, he grabbed her and pulled her right into the bars.

Raven screamed and kicked as a thousand degrees of magical heat seared into her skin, but Slade had both of her arms and pulled her close. She kept pulling, kept fighting, attempting desperately to shield her stomach. Tears leaked out of her eyes as a million white-hot knives burned her alive.

"You think you can outsmart me?" He yelled. "You think you stand a chance, little girl? You are dead! This is over! And you will _never_ get the chance to kill that child you've got! I'll rip your heart open the second you give birth! And you will _die_ alone, you _fucking little cun-_"

A green ram knocked into Slade and threw him to the ground.

Raven couldn't believe it.

And the man she loved suddenly stood before her, rage lighting up his young face. "DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK TO HER LIKE THAT!"

For the first time in a month, hope fluttered in her heart, and the baby gave a ferocious kick.

Beast Boy turned to her, his eyes finally locking on her, and she couldn't even speak.

"I'll never let you go again," he said.

Oh, God, she was going to faint.

But then Slade got to his feet, and Beast Boy immediately morphed into a T-rex to take him down. Starfire swooped in, her starbolts pounding down on the machinery, and Robin ran by, yelling,

"Don't worry, Raven! We got you!"

"Oh, thank God," she muttered, just as Cyborg dropped to his knees before her.

"Cy!" She couldn't stop herself from yelling.

"Hey, Rae," he said with a grin. The grin slipped as he saw how gaunt she was. Her stomach took up her entire body mass. It looked like her spine would crack under the weight.

"That fucker," he grunted, looking down at the cage. "I swear, Rae, I'll get you out. How does this thing work?"

"It's enchanted, I have no idea. I don't know how he controls it. Other people can get in, but I can't get out, it burns me."

Robin yelled a battle cry from across the room, and Cyborg dropped down to look at the metal base. "Alright, girl. Don't you worry."

She wasn't. A weight had been taken off her shoulders, her soul was aflight in that dark room. Starfire, Robin and Beast Boy were fighting at their best as Slade got his ass handed to him. Beast Boy was vicious as animal after animal pounded him into the wall.

But then another round of henchmen ran into the room, and Cyborg stood up and took them down with his sonic cannon. Robin subdued Slade and Starfire ran up to help Cyborg, but Beast Boy came right for Raven.

"How do I get you out?" He yelled.

"I don't know, it's enchanted!"

He looked around for a control panel, any sign of electricity. His face grew frustrated. "You can't get out?"

"No, it burns me!"

"He's been _burning_ you?" His voice morphed into a gorilla's roar as he suddenly transformed and towered above the cage. He reached up to the top of the cage and ripped the metal top off, throwing it aside and killing ten henchmen. Ignoring the burning electricity shooting up his arms, he jumped into the cage, scooped Raven up into his arms and jumped out just as Starfire took down the last thug.

She buried her face in his fur and once again felt his heartbeat. Tears leaked out of her eyes.

The arms grew smaller as Beast Boy morphed back, but somehow he still had the strength to hold her up.

"I'm sorry, baby," he murmured, his face pressed to the top of her head. "Never again, I swear. Never again."

Oh, God, she loved this boy so much. She squeezed him harder than she'd ever held anyone before.

Robin walked forward with Slade, hands cuffed behind his back, body broken and bruised. "Raven, the honor is yours."

It took her a moment to realize what he meant. "But I thought you didn't want us killing people."

"After what he did to you, he doesn't count as human anymore."

She looked around. Cyborg's face was set, and even Starfire had anger in her eyes.

"Up to you, baby," Beast Boy said.

She looked down at Slade.

"Come on, little girl." She could hear him smiling. "Impress me."

Drawing strength from her team, she created one thin black plane of magic. With a swipe of her hand, the plane fell downwards, and Slade's head fell to the ground. No blood came out. So he had never really been human after all. Robin let his body drop, and suddenly the Titans saw their greatest adversary unmistakably dead at their feet.

"Come on, Rae," Beast Boy said, still holding her in his arms. "Let's go home."

They walked out together. And Raven listened to Beast Boy's heartbeat the entire way home.

* * *

**Yay! That felt so good to write :) Now it's all good news from here on out. Thanks for all the love guys, please keep it coming as we finish it up! Also, I've been playing around with another story idea...not a sequel to this, but maybe a story set years after the events of the series, the Titans have gone their separate ways, kind of the story of how they manage to reunite/fight off a new supervillain? Tell me what you think! Till next time - PVB**


	10. Birthday

**Chapter Ten – Birthday**

She had never known how good a man's hands felt.

Deep breaths in, out. Hair lying like feathers over her face, moving with each sleepy breath. The child inside of her shifting quietly. Beast Boy curled up against her, body molded to hers.

He clasped her hands in front of her breast. Ever since rescuing her from Slade, Raven couldn't sleep without him anymore. He didn't mind.

That morning, when the two of them eventually started moving, Raven blushed, but didn't shy away from his kiss. And after her usual morning puke session, Beast Boy asked if she wanted to go up to the roof while she was brushing her teeth. She nodded.

They had to move slowly to the roof. Raven struggled to maintain her independence, but she was so pregnant it was difficult for her to do almost everything. She couldn't fucking _wait_ for her due date in five days. But the thought of a child still –

Oh, God, no. She still had time to figure that out, right?

The sunrise was gorgeous, making Beast Boy's skin glow. They stood quietly together, Raven leaning up against one of the heating vents. His pinky finger was casually intertwined with hers.

"Hey, Rae."

"Hmm?"

"I really love you, you know that, right?"

She turned to him with a grin. "Of course I know that, dumbass. I love you too."

"And I couldn't think of a better person to have a child with."

"I could," she joked. But his face was serious. "Oh, sorry, B, I thought we were joking around. After what happened with Slade…I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I really do." She could talk so freely around him now.

"That's good. Cause I was thinking we outta do something about that."

"What do you mean?" She was staring at the sunrise. It was truly incredible

But then his pinky finger slipped from hers, and she looked over to see him get to one knee before her and reach into his pocket.

_WHAT THE FUCK?_

"Raven, will you marry me?"

From his pocket he pulled out a small black velvet box, and opened it as Raven stood and gawked at him. Inside was a gorgeous amethyst ring, surrounded by small diamonds, absolutely sparkling in the sunlight.

"Because I love you and I want the whole world to know."

He stared up at her with beautiful green eyes and waited for her response.

Raven had stopped breathing. Her body shook. Her face had slipped. She put one hand surreptitiously on her stomach and finally murmured,

"It's time."

"Really?" His face lit up. "Oh, Raven, I'm so excited, we're gonna invite everyone – "

"No, Beast Boy, my water just broke. It's time."

He stared at her. She stared at him.

"What?" He said.

She grabbed his hand and placed it on her crotch. Her nightdress was soaking wet and clinging to her thighs.

"My water just broke," she repeated. "I'm going into labor."

In the blink of an eye, they were once again two terrified sixteen-year-olds.

"You're going into labor?"

She nodded.

"We're about to have a child?"

Her eyes were giant and panicked.

Beast Boy took a deep breath, pocketed the ring and walked over to the open stairwell.

"Titans!" He bellowed. "Code Yellow!"

After a moment, Cyborg's whooping voice reached them.

"FINALLY! It's a beautiful morning to have a baby!"

* * *

Raven could tell from the start that this was not going to be pretty.

The nurses couldn't stop tittering about the pregnant Titan, Starfire was shitting herself from excitement, and the hospital gown made her look even fatter than she already was. In the birthing suite, Raven paced around, hands on her back, as Beast Boy fluttered by nervously.

One of the nurses walked in. "Raven, want me to call an anesthesiologist for an epidural?"

"No epidural." She shook her head.

"Raven, are you sure?" Beast Boy said.

"Can't do painkillers with my powers. Could unleash a lot of nasty shit." She gritted her teeth and clenched over. It felt like her entire intestinal system had worked itself into a knot.

"Baby, hold on – "

"Shut up," she snapped. Beast Boy shut up and sent a panicked look to Robin and Cyborg, who were sitting on some chairs in the corner looking uncomfortable and awkward. It was Starfire who knew what to do.

"Squeeze my hand as hard as it hurts," she said, slipping her fingers into Raven's.

Raven latched on and squeezed tight throughout her contraction. Her other hand gripped tight to the edge of the hospital bed. She hated feeling so weak, so vulnerable, but Starfire never wavered, and finally she stood up, the pain subsided.

The nurse walked over to feel her pulse. "You're right on track. Should be ready to start pushing in an hour or so."

"An _hour_? Are you _kidding_ me?"

"It's a waiting game, hun," the nurse said, striding out of the room. "Gotta wait until the baby says it's ready. I'll send in the doctor."

Raven stood up slowly. Starfire's eyes were wide and Beast Boy looked terrified.

"Brace yourselves, kids," she said. "Shit's about to get real."

Beast Boy gulped.

At first, Raven took to pacing, slowly moving her gigantic body around the room. Not for the first time, she was excited to return to being a normal-sized human being again, but the thought of her child's impending birth still freaked her out, so she didn't really dwell on it. The contractions came with increasing frequency, so she was forced to lay down, but with Starfire and Beast Boy on either side of her, it wasn't too bad.

But then things started blowing up.

At first it was just a pillow cushion that fizzed up in a spark of black electricity. Raven mentally observed that her powers were coming back. But then it was Robin's communicator, lying on the floor. Then it was the IV tube on the other side of the room, which exploded with a shower of liquid across the room.

Around that time, Raven started screaming.

This was beyond a contraction. She was literally being _ripped_ apart. She smacked both hands on either side of the bed and just screamed into the floor. Lights fizzled and popped above her, making the room flicker eerily.

She was used to pain. Her father enjoyed setting her on fire when she was a kid. That was fine. This was fucking _torture_.

"Rae, you gotta focus," Beast Boy said as soon as the contraction stopped and she threw her head back on the pillow, hair plastered to her sweaty forehead. "I know you're in pain, but the emotions are making your powers go haywire."

"I'm in PAIN? You don't know what pain feels like!" She screamed. Beast Boy literally stepped back. "And this is all because you _fucking_ forgot to wear a _fucking_ condom!"

"Friend Raven – " Starfire started.

"No, you stay out of this. Listen to me, you green little shit, the next time that you think it'll be a good idea to plow the goth girl cause she's a little tipsy and lonely, you better fucking think about how it feels to have your vagina _ripped open_, cause that's the kind of pain I'm going to put you through!"

"Now, is that any way to talk to the father of your child?"

A beautiful black woman strode into the room with a smile. Robin and Cyborg both sat up a little straighter.

"And who the fuck are you?" Raven scowled.

"I'm Dr. Johnson, and I'll be the one ripping your vagina open." She plopped down at the foot of the bed and placed Raven's feet in the stirrups. "Cause from the looks of things, you've got a big one, and we may have to do some cutting to get 'em out."

Raven glared at Beast Boy. "I despise you."

"I love you too?"

The contraction came, hard and fast, and Raven clenched in, squeezing her eyes.

"No, Raven, listen to me," Dr. Johnson said, "breathe through it. This is how you're going to have to give birth."

"They told me I had an hour!"

"Maybe not." Dr. Johnson peeked between Raven's legs. "You're almost fully dilated. We may be pushing soon."

"Oh, God!" The chair beside Robin absolutely shattered in a black spasm.

Beast Boy leaned in. "Raven, listen to me. You've got this. We've got this."

"No, B, I can't – "

"Bullshit. You can." He grabbed her hand. "Come on, babe, let's do this."

"We are all here, Raven," Starfire said.

"What – " Once again she started screaming, doubling over in pain. But with Starfire and Beast Boy holding her hands, and Robin and Cyborg finally standing up and around her, she stopped screaming and instead started breathing.

"Good, Raven, very good." Dr. Johnson placed one of Raven's feet on her shoulder and pulled in closer. A nurse walked in, wheeling a bassinette. "Listen to me. You're doing great. We're coming up on it really soon."

"No, I can't, I can't have a baby – " The bassinette blew up, but Dr. Johnson didn't even flinch.

"Of course you can. You're a superhero."

"Look at me, Rae," Beast Boy said, and she locked on his eyes. "Right here. You and me. Not leaving."

"Starfire, come hold her other leg," Dr. Johnson directed. "You two, get over on her other hand. It's time."

Starfire and the boys switched places, and Starfire gave her a gigantic grin as Robin held her hand.

She couldn't breathe. Was this really happening? A _child_?

There it was, oh, God, so much pain, ripping her apart –

"Raven, you gotta push," Dr. Johnson said.

Push _what_? What was she supposed to push? This was bullsh-

Then she felt the baby. Inside of her. Moving down.

"I feel it," she whispered.

"That's good!" Dr. Johnson said. "Bring 'em out."

And suddenly she had a goal. Nine months of hell and _her child_ was ready to be born. She clenched in, braced her legs against the girls, and _pushed_.

Pain. So much pain. Oh, God, she had never felt so much pain. She couldn't think for the pain.

"Keep breathing, baby! You're doing so well!"

Oh, God, when would the pain end?

"Raven, you gotta push!"

She gritted her teeth, tears leaking, and pushed.

"There's the head!" Starfire screamed.

"Oh, my God," Beast Boy whispered.

"One big push, Raven!" Dr. Johnson yelled.

Raven put her head down and pushed with every ounce of strength in her body.

And then –

A loud, high-pitched cry.

Dr. Johnson pulled out a slimy, wet, purple baby and placed it directly on Raven's chest.

The baby screamed. Raven stared.

Like a trance, she placed her arms around him and said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Hush, little one. You're safe now."

Miraculously, the baby stopped screaming. He curled into her arms.

"Oh, my God," was all she could say.

Dr. Johnson came over with a chuckle and took the baby out of her arms. "We'll give him back in a second, I promise. Gotta weigh him. Beast Boy, wanna cut the chord?"

He couldn't even speak. He walked over, a dazed look on his young face, and did the honor of cutting the chord. As Raven sat back, breathing deeper than she ever had in her life, Starfire, Cyborg and Robin all crowded around with looks of awe and glee.

"That was incredible, Rae," Cyborg said.

"You kicked the butt!" Starfire added.

"Holy shit, I just had a child," she said.

After a minute of Dr. Johnson doing all kinds of things between her legs that Raven didn't even want to think about, the nurse came back with a washed and cleaned baby, bundled like a burrito in a blanket. "Healthy baby boy. A little underweight for how big he is though – was there a traumatic event late in the pregnancy?"

"You could say that." Raven reached up her hands for the baby, and the nurse placed him in her arms. He fit perfectly. She and Beast Boy leaned in as she, with shaking fingers, moved back the little cap they'd placed on him.

A small shock of green hair curled on his forehead.

"Looks like his daddy," Raven said with a smile.

After that the baby was passed around like a basketball. Beast Boy stared in awe at his son and couldn't stop touching his tiny nose. Starfire squealed and declared that she would be the best knorfka in the world. Cyborg rocked the baby back and forth and couldn't stop laughing. Robin said nothing, but Raven had never seen him smile wider in his life.

By the time that the baby made his way back to Raven, he had opened his eyes. And Raven found herself staring down at a child with her exact same purple eyes. Just like Beast Boy's dream.

She gently stroked his soft skin and tiny fingers and suddenly found all of her fears and anxieties had simply faded away.

"Welcome home, Alexander," she said.

* * *

**Yaay we finally have a baby! Well, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter - it's the second to last one! Can't believe how quickly this story has gone by! Thanks for all the reviews and love! Y'all are the best :) - PVB**


	11. Morning Sun

**Chapter Eleven – Morning**

Raven had never been the type to believe in redemption. Throughout her short life, her demon heritage had always followed behind her like a shadow. Despite all the good that she tried to do, despite the life that she led as a Titan, she truly believed she was always destined to live like her father, or even worse, like her mother – locked in a tower to hide from her mistakes. At the end of the day, she had always supposed that once she could no longer use her powers to do good, there was nothing else to live for. There had never been a long-term life plan.

Alexander Garfield Logan changed all of that.

It was subtle. From the moment they took him home that afternoon, Beast Boy seemed perfectly suited for parenthood. He obsessed over Alexander, tickling him, taking him down to the garage so Cyborg could show him the ropes, letting Starfire speak baby nonsense to him. Beast Boy showed Alexander off to the world. At first, Raven was simply stunned by it all. A small little being, created by her, lying on the crib, looking at her with those eyes like hers and sucking on his perfect tiny fingers. It was so surreal that she had been able to produce something so perfect, so beautiful. She had never thought herself capable of creating love.

The first nights changed her. When she heard his high-pitched cry from his room, right next to hers where she and Beast Boy now slept, she would tiptoe out of the room and go to him. Then it was just the two of them with the moonlight, sitting in the comfy chair and breastfeeding, or else just holding him. Watching his breathing even out and grow sleepy. His fingers would reach up to play with her hair. He would watch her, which made her smile. She couldn't even believe it. This perfect little being was _hers_?

Pretty soon it became obvious that the child was hers and Beast Boy's. After only a few nights at home, she walked in one night to find a small green puppy whining in the crib. When she picked him up, he suddenly morphed back into a human. At random hours of the day, the Titans would find a small green kitten, duckling or cub waddling around the kitchen, and eventually Alexander's playpen became an absolute necessity. After a month, when he became hungry or crabby, small black sparks of electricity would fizz out of his hair. Raven and Beast Boy thanked God that those powers seemed to be taking longer to mature.

Their relationship had hit a new peak. Suddenly they were more than teammates – they were a partnership, attempting to raise a super-powered child. When the Titans East came over to see him for the first time, Raven held Alexander in her arms with Beast Boy's arm around her shoulder, and she beamed. She was the center of a happy family. It was more than she had ever hoped for in her wildest dreams.

Titans Tower was also an amazing place to raise a child. Cyborg and Beast Boy had never-ending stores of energy, so when running around after Alexander was too much for Raven, the boys stepped in and played for hours. Robin was a fantastic disciplinarian, and the baby grew up with a sense of propriety and justice that was absolutely absurd for a newborn. And Starfire was Alexander's second mother. Together she and Raven learned the ins and outs of breastfeeding, bathtimes, colic, and avoiding Alexander's exploding pee streams when they took off his diaper. When Raven got tired or stressed or overwhelmed, Starfire seemed to know exactly what to do. It made Raven smile to think of what would happen when Starfire became a mother.

After six months, Raven and Beast Boy actually made it through the night without being woken up once. She slowly opened her eyes, stretching her muscles out, feeling the sheets move beneath her. Then she saw the sun and realized that she hadn't seen her son in eight whole hours.

"Garfield, wake up!" She screamed, sitting straight up. "Something's happened to Alexander, we forgot to check on him, oh my God – "

"Rae. Hun." His face was firmly planted in the pillow. "He finally learned how to sleep."

"Seriously?" She couldn't believe it. She peeked into the baby's room just to be sure. There he was, a finger stuck firmly in his mouth, green hair poking up at random angles.

"Oh my God." She walked back into the room and fell face-down on the bed. "I can't believe it."

"I couldn't either. Woke up at five and did the same thing you did."

She turned her head and smiled. "I don't even know what to do with myself right now."

Beast Boy pushed himself to a sitting position. "Well, I suppose we can cuddle."

She didn't respond. A tiny smile pushed at the corners of her lips.

"Ha! You like cuddling! I knew it!"

"Shut up and spoon me."

The two of them came together again, bodies fitting together perfectly. His hands snaked around her waist and pulled her close. Raven was slowly losing all of her pregnancy fat, but since she went on less missions than before, it was a slow process. She found that she didn't really give a shit.

"Hey, Raven." His voice was close and soft at her ear.

"Hmm?"

"You know how I proposed to you the day Alexander was born?"

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that."

"And?"

"I, uh…I…"

Why the fuck couldn't she say this? Suddenly she was shy again. She'd had a kid with this guy, for Christ's sake!

"Rae, hun – "

"Yes, okay? Yes. Let's get married. I love you. As long as we only invite Titans and have it right here."

"I can live with that," he said, gently kissing her ear.

She couldn't stop herself from grabbing her hands and squeezing him close. "Alexander can be the ring bearer. Robin can officiate. Star will be my maid of honor, Cy can be the best man. I want fucking ice cream cake – "

"Whoa, girl. I didn't know you fantasized about your wedding."

"Well, haven't you?"

"There was no point, since I never thought I'd be lucky enough to marry you," he said. "I had no idea I'd ever end up here with you."

She curled into him, a smile bursting onto her face like the morning sun over the horizon.

"Deep down," she said, "I always knew."

* * *

**Aaaah yaay! That felt so good to write! Well, this is the end of 'Heartbeats', and I want to thank everyone who's come through it with me. I had no idea that a little story that I came up with a week and a half ago would be so popular! I truly appreciate all of the reviews, favs, and follows, especially for those of you who have been with it from the beginning. I'll try to go through and review some of your stories to return the favor! Anyway, please keep in touch - hopefully I will be back soon to write some more TT fanfiction, since this was so damn fun! Take care, y'all!**

**All my lovin, Pegelia**


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